Are you aching to make bacon? Dry Cure

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=210 BGCOLOR="#99CC99" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="0a58dfc3.jpg"> <div> <A HREF="id95.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Recipes"><U><B><U>BACK TO RECIPES</U></B></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=40 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="0a68dfe1esnpes.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>                              WAYNES WORLDS</B></FONT><B>     </B><B>|</B><B>     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" WAYNES WOR"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div>                                                   </div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=440 colspan=2 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="0a68dfc3.jpg"> <div> <I>Are you aching to make bacon? Dry Cure</I></div> <div> Like most things in life there is an easy way and a hard way to do it. The hard way can be very hard and mean you just give up, which was what happened to me when I first started to make bacon. As per usual when looking for information on how to make bacon I came across really complicated recipies which to my unexperienced eyes looked daunting. </div> <bR> <div> As with the wet cure I got this recipie from the local butcher and although he likes the wet cure I prefer this dry cure as there are less ingredients and less mess as I never fail to spill water everywhere when making a wet cure. </div> <bR> <div> Again to start with you need your cut which ever you decide on. Personally I remove the rind at this point on cuts that are big enough such as the back meat. For the belly cuts this can be difficult and it may be worth just leaving it on.</div> <bR> <div> The most importnat part is to weigh the meat you will be curing, dont try to judge things by sight alone, a half a kilo will make all the difference to the quantities you use. </div> <div> Once the meat is weighed measure out 100g of salt (table salt is fine) and 50g of caster sugar although granulated or brown is fine as well. This mix is for every kilo of meat so for a 2 kilo piece of meat your mix will be 300g in total and so on.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="1ab2ce10.jpg" border=0 width="300" height="225" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> Next rub all the mixture into the meat making sure you do all the sides. I use approximately 75% of the mix on the meat side and 25% of the mix on the rind side, making sure to get the mix into the crevices.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="1ac2ce10.jpg" border=0 width="300" height="225" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> Once all the mix is rubbed in place the meat in a sealable bag try and expel as much air out as this will help the fluid to stay in contact with the meat when it drains from the meat. Seal the bag and place on one side in the refridgerator.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="1ad2ce10.jpg" border=0 width="300" height="225" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> I generally leave the meat in the refridgerator for 5 days sometimes up to 7 depending on what work is being done around the place. The longer you leave it the saltier the taste. Importantly the meat is turned over each day as you will notice the fluid will be draining from the meat into the bag. Some folk prefer to drain the fluid off daily but I have always had good results from leaving the meat in the fluid.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="1ae2ce10.jpg" border=0 width="300" height="225" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> Once you take the meat from the fridge rinse it for a few seconds under cold running water and leave to dry for an hour. From here slice and taste every batch. It may be your last taste once friends and family get their orders in!!!!!</div> <bR> <div> Two things to mention are that you may find the bacon too salty in which case the next time leave a day less in the refridgerator. For now though the bacon you have can be cut into slices and soaked in water to remove some of the salt. The sugar content in the mix has always provided a balance to the salt and I have not had anyone complain of salty bacon so far. The second being I dont use salt petre as I feel that the chemicals in salt petre are not things I particularily wish to eat. It has been used to make bombs after all hence the difficulty in getting a source of it. </div> <bR> <div> Well that should be it, once you have produced a few batches you may wish to experiment with black treacle and beer, for me it tastes fine the way it is.</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>